New evidence declares soldier POW before death in Korean War

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New evidence declares soldier POW before death in Korean War
By Staff Reports
Jan 27, 11:28 AM
Gravestones at the National Cemetery of the Pacific at Punchbowl are decorated with American flags and Hawaiian lei during a Memorial Day ceremony on May 28, 2012. (Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Daniel Barker/Navy)

Army scientists recently added a new chapter to the story of a 19-year-old Army private presumed to have died fighting in the Korean War in 1950.

Unit officials had declared Pfc. Ithiel E. Whatley, of Pensacola, Florida first missing in action and, nearly four years later “issued a presumptive finding of death” on Jan. 4, 1954, later declaring his remains “unrecoverable” in January 1956, according to a Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency release.

PO1 William "Chip" Nagel SSG Michael Noll Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen Cpl Vic Burk SGT Charlie Lee] Sgt (Join to see) GySgt Jack Wallace SFC David Reid, M.S, PHR, SHRM-CP, DTM PV2 Larry Sellnow SPC Gary C. SPC (Join to see) Amn Dale Preisach SGT Ruben Lozada 1SG Paul Ayotte CPT Richard Trione SFC Ralph E Kelley 1SG Patrick Burke PV2 Scott Mollette SGT Gerald “Jerry” Harrell Lt Col Charlie Brown